Las Reinas Final Performance by Jesus Benavente and Felipe Castelblanco

For Las Reinas, Benavente and Castelblanco collaborate with two Mariachi bands, one in Queens and the other based in Bogotá, Colombia, to write a new song in real-time, via online video chat. Working across cultural, social, and economic borders, the collaborating bands and artists will reveal the pervasiveness of the Mariachi genre, a Mexican musical tradition that is steeped in poverty, pride, protest, and community, but has been widely adapted to the needs of a globalized tourist economy.

Open rehearsals and conversations will take place at the Queens Museum throughout the exhibition, culminating in this live performance by Benavente and Mariachi Real de Mexico (Queens), with Castelblanco and Bogotá-based band connecting via video conference. At the end of the collaboration, the new song, Las Reinas (The Queens), will be set into the informal oral distribution networks as a new Mariachi tradition, passed from band to band across North and South America, as a means of examining the phenomena of cultural (re)appropriation and (mis) translation.











When: Sun., Jul. 31, 2016 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Where: Queens Museum
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
718-592-9700
Price: Free with museum admission
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For Las Reinas, Benavente and Castelblanco collaborate with two Mariachi bands, one in Queens and the other based in Bogotá, Colombia, to write a new song in real-time, via online video chat. Working across cultural, social, and economic borders, the collaborating bands and artists will reveal the pervasiveness of the Mariachi genre, a Mexican musical tradition that is steeped in poverty, pride, protest, and community, but has been widely adapted to the needs of a globalized tourist economy.

Open rehearsals and conversations will take place at the Queens Museum throughout the exhibition, culminating in this live performance by Benavente and Mariachi Real de Mexico (Queens), with Castelblanco and Bogotá-based band connecting via video conference. At the end of the collaboration, the new song, Las Reinas (The Queens), will be set into the informal oral distribution networks as a new Mariachi tradition, passed from band to band across North and South America, as a means of examining the phenomena of cultural (re)appropriation and (mis) translation.

Buy tickets/get more info now